Just had an intresting thought about Leah and the pack. Jacob and the others pretty much call her a bitter harpy who needs to get over Sam. I remember in Eclipse when Jacob was telling Bella about how Sam accidentaliy hurt Emily, he said it with such sadness it was like he himself experienced it. It was a result of them being able to share each other's emotions with one another. Now I wondered if Jacob could feel Sam's pain to that level, why can't any of them feel Leah's? I told this to a friend of mine and she believed that Jacob and the others simpliy ignored it since they didn't know what to do with her feelings, thus adding to her believes that Jacob and the others were real jerks. I think Jacob even admits to this in BD. What do you guys think?

It seems a fact of life though, that men have more sympathy for a woman who's been hurt physically by a man, but bears it quietly, than they do for a woman scorned. Men, and people in general, seem to be more sympathetic to people who deal with pain internally than women who bear their pain in a more vocal way.

It's only in BD when Leah joins Jacob's pack and finally gets away from Sam that she lets her guard down and lets him see/feel her pain without lashing out. Before that, they know she's hurting, but she lashes out and gets malicious - and distracts the pack by purposefully thinking about things they don't want to think about, like who Embrey's father was. Jacob acknowledges in Eclipse that she is really hurt, but he struggles to feel sympathetic towards her because of how she behaves.

I love love LOVE Leah. In my opinion, she's the most realistic character in the series. I don't mean to start an argument, but I thought it was rather stupid, selfish, and quite frankly just a bad example of Edward to go and commit suicide as soon as he thought Bella died. But I'll save that rant for some other time. Leah, though, goes through just as much loss and pain (first when Sam left her, then when her dad died-it was her dad, right? Or was it her mom? *hasn't read the books a lot*) as Edward, if not more-and keeps on going. Which is what (I hope) most people would do. That's why I love her so much. Go, Leah!

Last edited by TeamLeah on Sat Aug 20, 2011 12:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

At first, I really disliked Leah. Her attitude, and pretty much everything else about her. When I read the story about her and Sam, I hated her more. As Jacob put it in Breaking Dawn, "maybe we all blamed her for the way she handled it". I probably would've liked her a bit more if she'd been a little more.. composed.

In Jacob's section of Breaking Dawn, though, I sort of grew to like her. I think plenty of girls can find things in common with Leah, and this is where I realized what we had in common. I'd never felt bad for her before, but suddenly I really liked Leah. She seems more real to me than the rest of them. (Minus being a shape shifter and all that jazz).

The others were jerks in the second degree. She had lost her father, was practically thrown out by Sam for her second cousin, and phased. She had every right to be bitchy, particularly to Sam seeing as she had to see into his mind and saw his mental fantasies about Emily. She had every right to be cynical and callous. She had every right to grieve and to not act like she was taking it all in her stride. She was cold and nasty because of what she went through. But the boys - her brother included - treated her like... like a piece of trash. Jacob called her a harpy and touchy; none of them gave her a drop of sympathy. Leah was practically an outcast within the pack because of her attitude. Perhaps if they'd been nice to her, she'd have been nice back.

It's also extremely ironic that because Leah isn't paired up and hates Bella, she doesn't get a happy ending.

I dream of her going to college, or even to university, getting a job, and returning successful, while everybody's happy endings are falling apart. As of late I've thought of her - in my own head - as a staff/okatana wielding, physically strong badass with the gift of the gab and able to put aside any dislike or hatred to help. She's brilliant. Brave, feisty, sane, strong, outspoken, and confident.

Is it true that she looked like she just wanted to give up in BD, when Seth tells her she ruins everything?

Yes, Leah basically hits bottom in BD and has to admit to Jacob just how sad and frustrated she is and that she has no place else to go. If Jacob refuses her entry into his pack, she will either have no one or have to crawl back to Sam. Jacob takes pity on her and begins empathizing with her, having to admit to himself that there are similarities between their conditions.

Jacob’s pack grows, and Leah becomes his second-in-command, so her ending isn’t that bad. Even though Jacob isn’t too keen on continuing his own Alpha role, he maintains it almost exclusively for Leah’s benefit, so Jacob ends up giving Leah some considerable respect and consideration.

SM pays her one of the highest compliments she can give, in that she can envision continuing other stories based potentially on Leah. The only other characters she mentioned for other stories were Jacob and Nessie.

"It will take an amazing amount of control,” she mused. “More even than Carlisle has. He may be just strong enough…the only thing he’s not strong enough to do is stay away from her. That’s a lost cause.”

In my opinion Leah would be better for the spin off than Jake and Renameme. I think she has a great potential for growth and I would love to see it happen. I would love to see her come to terms with her wolf side and fall in love. I want to see her move on from Sam and restart her life. I just hope she doesn't imprint.